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My son prides himself with TIG welding as he seems to be able to maintain a consistent distance so that the voltage varies very little. When he was in welding class and helping out, he would watch the meters on the Miller welders when others were welding. He could tell when they were OK or about to dip the tungsten.

Im making a circuit simulation with a transformer and inductance as is in a buzz box. The magnitude of arc voltage will be the major parameter in such simulation. The simulation will show the inductance reaction and currents/voltage waveforms at a simple buzzbox and stick electrode. Them we can "see" inside the welder.

Much simpler with a reactor coil, (like a load bank) and a scope simular to a
ATTEN model #ADS1102C Color scope. Now the ATTEN is the Hong Kong brand, however, here it becomes a really high priced name brand. Ordering it direct from Hong Kong reduces the price by a major factor. Talking hundreds of dollars cheaper for the exact same unit. If you try to scope a machine by welding with it, your scope lines will be all over the place, and next to impossible to read. Thus is the reason I use a load bank. Scope lines are easily adjustable and easy to read. Simple to find a problem

The fact is, if you are doing something scientific, you should be starting with hard facts, get a multimeter, and several different power sources, and start testing and recording the numbers yourself. If you are depending on "opinions", from unknown sources on a free message board, is anything or any conclusions you come up with afterwards really valid????

I mean, how would I know, just welding, exactly what volts my Hobart 325 is running at? And with the same rod, would I have any idea if either of my Commander 500s are running at the same volts? Likewise my 301 Miller, or my Lincoln 250?

I can set each to run perfectly, but however I doubt very much if the voltages on each are exactly the same, or even near the same.

Do a test, sample everything. Or restrict your conclusions, based on a certain brand or model of welder.

Obviously, I'm just a hack-artist, you shouldn't be listening to anything I say .....